126 COOPERATIVE MARKETING 



are to be tolerated^ though not allowed to take more than 

 a subordinate part in the work of distributing the citrus 

 crop. These associations recognize the convenience of 

 having a district exchange to order cars, to act as inter- 

 mediary between themselves and the California Fruit 

 Growers Exchange and to be a kind of clearing house for 

 general marketing information. They also concede that it 

 may be advisable to have the associations of a given district 

 united in some organization a little less formidable than the 

 California Fruit Growers Exchange. They call a halt, 

 however, when it comes to permitting the district exchange 

 to have an important voice in deciding when or where to 

 ship fruit, or to determine whether to accept or reject bids 

 on the market. These matters, they think, constitute the 

 very heart of the association's existence, and no association 

 should entrust its life to other hands by delegating power 

 over shipments and prices. 



Such a philosophy is found in general in the associations 

 which also believe in wide initiative being reserved to the 

 members as to the times and amounts of picking. The 

 manager and board of directors of the association are be- 

 lieved to have a more vital interest in the advantageous 

 sales of their own fruit than a district exchange could have, 

 therefore it is supposed they will handle the marketing 

 problem more successfully. In a word, such associations 

 believe that a district exchange, which owns no cars of fruit 

 and does not depend for its income on securing high prices, 

 will not give all the cars of the various member associa- 

 tions that careful individual attention which the owners 

 themselves would give them ; or, if you want your property 

 handled properly handle it yourself. This position is well 

 represented by the following excerpt. The manager of a 

 large citrus acreage is giving his reasons for entering the 

 exchange system : 



